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Online now: 3 members: TABLE SETTER 11, softballjunkie13, veenus31; 48 anonymousDiscussion: DO or DID PRO\'S USE HEAVY or LIGHT BATS?
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| Dec. 18, 2005 STONEMAN Men's 50 535 posts | DO or DID PRO'S USE HEAVY or LIGHT BATS? MITCH: The follow' comes from Daniel A. Russell. Babe Ruth, early in his career swung a 54 oz. hickory bat& in 1927 was swing' a 40 oz. bat, the yr. the BABE hit 60 H.R.s. Ty Cobb & Joe Di Maggio swung 42 oz. bats. Roger Hornsby, swung a 50 oz. bat. Ted Williams, Rod Carew, & Stan musial, swung 31-33 oz. bats. Roger Maris, use a 33 oz. bat when he hit 61 H. R.s in 61'. In 62', Maris,was involved in an experiment in/w he hit 5 balls with 5 diff.' bats 4 distances. The bats were 33 to 47 oz. Mark McGwire swung a 35 oz. bat when he hit 73, in 1998. Barry Bonds, swung a 32 oz. bat in 2001, when he hit 73 H.R.s. Today, most pros swing 31-35 oz. bats. Optimum bat weight is between 15 & 18 oz. This is why, the NCAA regulations recently imposed a -3 rule, so, that a 34 inch bat can not weigh less than 31 oz. |
| Dec. 19, 2005 bashbro1 Men's 70 267 posts | A baseball study was undertaken a few years back that took into consideration these three hitting parameters: Bat-Speed, Batted-Ball-Speed, & the Batís mass (i.e. its weight on earth). The study showed that the batted ball speed curve essentially flattens out between 32oz and 41oz bats remaining almost constant @ about 110mph. At the same time understand that the batterís swing speed decreases in swinging the 32oz to 41oz bat; but the mass of the bat makes up the difference in power curve. Plugging values into the kinetic energy equation,,, KineticEnergy=1.5Mass x Bat*Velocity squared proves the point. This study was done for baseball with a 90mph+ fastball coming @ you and most batterís would certainly would opt out for using the 32oz bat since you can swing it faster and with the same power curve as the 41oz! Applying this study to slo-pitch would not be as significant obviously, as we have more time to wind up and swing a heavier bat. However, it does raise questions about those players that swear by the lighter bats such as: 26oz, 27oz and even 28oz because they get more bat-speed. According to this study you would have a greater ëball exit speedí using a 30oz slo-pitch bat even though your bat speed would be slower than using a lighter oz bat, thus yielding more power and distance on you long flies! |
| Dec. 19, 2005 crusher Men's 75 524 posts | I think Ray DeMarini's thaughts on this was "How fast the bat speed is after the ball has left the bat". If the bat does not drop much in bat speed the ball goes faster and farther. If the bat speed drops a lot after striking the ball the ball does not go fast or far. When you combine a Power Swing with a Speed Swing the ball will go much farther. Note: Always try to use the sweet spot for best results. |
| Dec. 19, 2005 Mitch Men's 50 68 posts | STONEMAN, I am fimiliar with that Daniel Russell website, lots of good info there. He really gets into the "physics" part of baseball/softball. It's kinda hard to argue against physics since it follows an established set of rules. CRUSHER, you're right about the bat speed "after" hitting the ball. If you have two bat swings with equal amounts of speed/energy built up in them "before" hitting the ball and assuming both swings hit the ball in the same spot on the bat, the one with the higher bat speed "after" hitting the ball will send the ball farther. Why? Because more of the built up speed/energy was transfer to the ball thereby sending it farther. All of this can get very confusing and complex. I think the bottom line is this, get your bat, go to the plate, grip it and rip it. Put your best effort into every swing. Don't think about it just do what you've done all these years. Trust "yourself". We've all heard hundreds of guys talking about bats and bat speed and bat material. Listen to them with a grain of salt keeping in mind that "you" are not "them". What might work for them might not work for you. Bottom line, use the bat you are most comfortable with rather it's a wooden bat or a 400 dollar composite bat, if it works for you, it works. Everyone playing the game is trying to better themselves and the biggest thing we can control is our swing at the plate. So, go to the plate with your best effort in mind, conscintrate on your objective and give it your best. Nobody can argue with that. Merry Christmas to you all and your families and lets put more over the fence next year so we'll have more to write about. Keep swinging. |
| Dec. 19, 2005 floo56 Men's 50 37 posts | Concerning softball, the only true way to test specifics on a bat is to tested on a Tee against each other. Most data using this method reveals that endloaded bats performed better distance wise and the balance versions better for liners and basehits! Merry Christmas to All!! Aloha, Fabe |
